John now gives us the purpose of his gospel. He uses the perfect tense “have been written” which gives an air or permanency about it much like Pilate in (John 19:22). John’s purpose is to inspire faith in his readers and he gives two things which the reader should come to believe.

John 19:22  Pilate answered, “What I have written, I have written.”

First, is that Jesus is the Christ, or Messiah, prophesied from long ago, and second is that He is the Son of God. If we believe these two things, then we shall place our trust completely in Him and receive the life that He holds out and which is dependent upon His being.